Pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus)

Scientific name: Hypomesus olidus Pallas, 1814

Pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus)

The Pond smelt (Hypomesus olidus) is a freshwater fish of the family Osmeridae.

Biology

Inhabits brackish water of estuaries, lagoons, coastal waters of open sea, freshwater of lowland and piedmont rivers and lakes. Found in middle and surface water of ponds, lakes and streams, over a variety of bottom types. The species is basically anadromous, ascending rivers to spawn in spring. The anadromous populations are pelagic at the sea, commonly at 4-5 m depth and spawn in rivers. Landlocked populations may spawn in lakes or undertake migration to their tributaries. Spawns along shallow river shores and in backwaters with little or no current, often in lakes, on sand or gravel bottom. Within a specific lake or pond, adults are generally found in inshore spawning areas in spring and early summer, later moving offshore. Feeds on zooplankton, insects and algae. Only a

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Hypomesus olidus
Family
Osmeridae (Smelts)
Order
Osmeriformes (Smelts)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
20.0
Common length
11.3
Depth range
10 m (33 ft)
Environment
Marine; freshwater; brackish; pelagic-neritic; anadromous; depth range 10 - ? m
Climate
Boreal
Distribution
Arctic, Northwest to Northeast Pacific: drainages from Rae River (Coronation Gulf) and Great Bear Lake in Northwest Territories, Canada to Copper River in Alaska. Also rivers, estuaries and coastal waters of Euorpean and Siberian shores of Artic Ocean, from Kara drainage to Chukotka in eastern Siberia and to Korea and Hokkaido in Japan.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Least Concern (LC)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: commercial
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=2; tmax=5)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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